Ortega, Tour Virtual

San Francisco
Public Library demonstrates its strong commitment to the environment with the
grand opening of the new Ortega Branch Library on Saturday, September 10th, the
seventh San Francisco branch library built to silver certification standards
under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) rating system.

Among the green features at the Ortega Branch Library:

Clean and green

We use environmentally sound products
and practices for cleaning this Library.

Room for recycling

An easily accessible area is dedicated for recycling.

Good wood

We use regionally sourced and rapidly renewable materials, such as Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood.

On target

"Commissioning" is a testing process that verifies that all the building’s mechanical and electrical systems are installed, calibrated and
performing efficiently.

We recycled or salvaged at least 75% of the construction waste when building this library.

Breathe easier

The paints, adhesives and sealants in this building contain only low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOC), reducing the amount of indoor air contaminants that are odorous, potentially irritating or harmful.

Let the sun shine in

Amazing glaze

Watering Down

We've reduced the amount of water we use by 60% with the installation of efficient landscape irrigation systems.

Our plants are green too!

We selected native and adapted plants that are well-suited to our climate, and require less water than traditional ground covers such as grass.

Taming the temperature

We use roofing and exterior paving materials that reduce the heat island effect (thermal gradient differences between developed and natural areas). This minimizes our impact on the microclimate and on wildlife habitat.